Safety device for elevators.



No. 828,758. PATENTED AUG.14, 1906. J. H. LANEY,

v SAFETY DBVIGE FOR ELEVATORS.

vAPPLICATION FILED SEPT.12,1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1,

W Y 'ybh/JCM7/ ad Mag a,

m 6mm,

1a.: uomus Ps'rsks cc WASHINGTUN, n. c,

PATENTED AUG. 14, 1906.

J. H. LANEY.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLIOATION FILED $EPT.12.1905.

{SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witnesses fix '"UNITED srnrss JOHN H. LANEY, OF SAVANNAH, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO PATENT OFFICE.

ARETAS R. SCOTT, OF ST. JOSEPH, MISSOURI.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 14;, 1906 To aZZ whom, it 11200; concern.-

Be it known that'I, JOHN H. LANEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Savannah, in the county of Andrew and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in SafetyDevices for Elevators, of which the following is aspecifi'ca tion.

My invention pertains to safety devices for passenger and freight elevators; and it has for one of its objects to provide an automatic safety device calculated to effectually prevent an elevator-car from moving down at an unduly high rate of speed.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of the character stated embodying means whereby the conductor or any other person in the elevator-car is enabled to regulatei. 6., increase or diminishthe speed at which the car descends.

Other advantageous features of the invention will be fully understood from the following description when the same is considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in Whic Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view illustrating an elevator-shaft and an elevator car equipped with the improvements constituting the present and preferred embodiment of my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken at right angles to Fig. l and in the plane indicated by the line 2 2 of said figure looking toward the right. Fig. 3 is a detail view taken at the line 3 3 of Fig. 1 looking toward the left. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view of the mechanism for controlling the passage of fluid from the lower chamber of the piston-cylinder to the upper chamber thereof. Fig. 5 is a view of a modified construction hereinafter referred to in detail, and Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of thepiston.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 thereof, A A are upright racks fixed at opposite sides of an elevatorshaft. B is an elevator-car movable vertically between the said racks and designed to be raised and lowered by the ordinary well-known means or any other means compatible with the purposes of my invention. O, D, E, and F are hanger-bearings fixed to and arranged below the bottom of the car B. G is a cross-bar interposed be- "tween and fixed to the bearings O and D and having a vertical groove a in one of its sides for a purpo'se'hereinafter set forth. H is a hood arrangedover an opening I) in the bottom of the car B and fixed to and extending upwardly from said bottom, and I is a cylinder connected to and depending from the manger-bearings, O and D and closed at its lower end, as shown. This cylinder I is designed to contain oil or other suitable fluid (indicated by J and is divided bya're'ctilin- 'the piston and rods h, extending across said recesses, and they are normally held in their cages by light spring-strips Z, as shown. 'L is an upright pipe arranged at the outer sideof the cylinderI and connecting the lower and;v

upper chambers thereof. M is a threaded needle-valve arranged to control the passage of oil or'other fluid through said pipe and bearing a sprocket-wheel m. N is a shaft journaled in one side wall of the elevator-car and bearing a hand-wheel n, a pointer p, and a sprocket-wheel'r, the latter being disposed outside ofthe car, and P is a sprocket-belt connecting the sprocket-wheels m and r. This mechanism is designed to enable a person in thecar B to regulate the speed at which the car descends, as will hereinafter be more fully explained,"the pointer p being movable in front of a dial 8, Fig. 3, inorder that the desired speedmay be determined. The rod 6 of piston K is guided in the groove a of cross-bar G, and at the opposite sideof the rod with reference to said cross-bar is arranged a pinion R, which is intermeshed with therack F on the rod. Said pinion R is fixed on a shaft S, which is ournaled in the hanger-bearings C, D, and E and also carries a spur-gear T. This latter is intermeshed with a pinion U and a shaft V, which is journaled in'the hanger-bearings O, D, E, and F and bears spur-gears W, intermeshed with the fixed racks A. i

The practical operation of my improved safety device is as follows: On the downward scent of the car, and hence it will be observed that the car is effectually prevented from moving downwardly at an unduly high rate of speed. It will also be observed that the speed at which the car descends may be increased by moving the valve M outwardly and may be diminished by moving said valve inwardly. In this connection it will be noticed that the valve M is adjusted by a person within the car B through the medium of the hand-wheel n, shaft N, sprocket-wheel r, sprocket-belt P, and sprocket-wheel m, and that such person is enabled by referring to the pointer 19 and dial 8 to fix the rate of speed at which the car descends. On the up movement of the car B the piston K is moved upwardly, and during such upward movement of the car and piston the oil passes through the pipe L into the lower chamber 0 and also passes through the passages g and past the valves h of the piston into said lower chamber 0. The arrangement of the rod 6 of the piston K in the groove a of cross-bar G enables the said bar to properly guide the piston-rod and at the same time hold it in engagement with the pinion R.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that in proportion to the purpose which it serves my novel device is simple and inexpensive in construction, also that the device is adapted ,to bereadily applied to elevators at present in use, and that it embodies no delicate parts such as are likely to get out of order after a short period of use.

In the modified construction shown in Fig.

5 I have provided for the passage of oil from the lower chamber (2 of a cylinder I to the upper chamber d thereof without resorting to the use of a pipe disposed outside of the said cylinder. The piston K, employed in the said modified construction, differs from the piston K, before described, in that it has a central passage L extending from its lower side to its upper side. This passage L is controlled by an upwardly-seating valve M, the stem m of which extends up through a bore 12, in the piston-rod e and is provided at 1ts upper end with a head n and at a point adjacent to said end with a thread which bears in a correspondingly-threaded bore in the piston-rod. The piston-rod c is disposed and movable in a hood H on the bottom of the car B, and the said hood is provided with a door H so that access may be readily gained to the head n for the purpose of adjusting the valve M, andthereby varying the speed at which the car descends.

Having thus described my invention, what is claimed, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is

1. In an elevator safety device, the combination of an elevator-car having an opening in its bottom, a hood arranged over said opening and extending upwardly within the car, a cylinder hung from the car and con taining fiuid, a piston dividing said cylinder into two chambers and having a rod extending up into the said hood and bearing a rack,

"a conduit connecting the chambers of the cylinder, an upright rack fixed in the shaft in which the car is arranged to move, and connected gears intermeshed with the rack on the piston-rod and the fixed rack, respectively.

2. In an elevator safety device, the combination of an elevator-car having an opening in its bottom, a hood arranged over said opening and extending upwardly within the car, a cylinder hung from the car and containing fluid, a piston dividing said cylinder into two chambers and having a rod extending up into the said hood and bearing a rack, a conduit connecting the chambers of the cylinder, a valve controlling said conduit, means disposed in the car for adjusting said valve, an upright rack fixed in the shaft in which the car is arranged to move, and gearing carried by the car and connecting the fixed rack and the rack on the piston-rod.

3. In an elevator safety device, the combi nation of an elevator-car, a cylinder carried by the car and containing fluid, a piston dividing the said cylinder into two chambers, and having a rod bearing a rack, a conduit connecting the said chambers of the cylinder, an upright rack fixed in the shaft in which the car is arranged to move, a shaft journaled on the car and having a gear intermeshed with the fixed rack and also having a pinion, and a second shaft journaled on the car and having a gear intermeshed with the pinion of the first-mentioned shaft and also having a pinion intermeshed with the rack on the piston-rod.

4. In an elevator safety device, the combination of an elevator-car having an opening in its bottom, a hood arranged over said opening and extending upwardly within the car, a cylinder hung from the car and containing fiuid, a piston dividing said cylinder into two chambers and having a rod extending up into the said hood, a conduit connecting the chambers of the cylinder, a fixed device disposed in the shaft in which the car is arranged to move, and means on the car and connected with the piston-rod for cooperating with the said fixed device and moving the piston synchronously with the car.

5. In an elevator safety device, the combination of an elevator-car, an upright cylinder "ssn's carried by the car and containing fluid, a piston dividing the said cylinder into two chambers and having an upright rod bearing a rack, an upright rack fixed in the shaft in which the car is arranged to move, and gearing carried by the car and connecting the rack on the piston-rod and the fixed rack.

6. In an elevator safety device, the combination of an elevator-car, a cylinder carried by the car and containing fluid, a piston dividing the said cylinder into two chambers, a fixed device disposed in the shaft in which the car is arranged to move, means on the car and cooperating with the said fixed device for moving the piston synchronously with movement of the car, a conduit connecting the chambers of the cylinder, a valve controlling said conduit, a hand device disposed in the car and provided with a pointer, a dial arranged to cooperate with the pointer, and a driving connection intermediate the hand device and the valve for adjusting the latter by the former.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. LANEY.

Witnesses:

H. B. PYLE, JAS. H. HUFFMAN. 

